Car-fender



mmm o. M. wILooX.

'OAR FENDER.

No. 553,549.. Patented Jan. 2a, 1896.

UNITED STATE-s PATENT @Frisia CHARLES M. XVILCOX, OF NEWARK, NEV JERSEY.

CAR-FENDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 553,549, dated January28, 1896.

Application filed May 1'7, 1895. Serial No. 549,655. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it .known that I, CHARLES IWI. IVILCOX, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and. State of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inCar-Fenders; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying draw ings, and to letters ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a fender for electric, cableand other surface cars, having means connected therewith forautomatically holding the front end of the fen der in close proximitywith the track-rails, and to prevent the rocking motions of the carendwise from being transmitted to the fender, and to secure otheradvantages and results hereinafter referred to.

The invention consists in the improved fender and in the combination andarrangement of the parts thereof and connected therewith, as hereinafterset forth, and finally pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters ofreference indicate corresponding parts in each of the figures where theyoccur, Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section taken through line a'of Fig. 2, showing in dotted lines the car-body in an abnormal positionto the car-truck, the relative position of the fender proper to thetrackrails not being changed thereby; and Fig. 2 is a plan view of myimproved fender, showing the bottom of the car to which it is secured.

In said drawings, A represents a metallic plate comprising the front andsides of the fender. To said plate are securely fastened metal straps B,extending rearward and upward and secured at their upper ends to a barC, which connects at its opposite ends with the said plate A at the topjust beneath the platform of the car. About midway between the plate Aand bar O is another plate, D, which is also secured to the plate A andto the straps B.

To the back of the fender or guard are rmly secured brackets E, C-shapedin their general outlines, and pivotally connected at d with hangers F,which are firmly secured to and beneath the platform of the car, as seenin Fig. l. This arrangement enables the fender when not in use to beturned upward by the motorman and be secured in front of the dashboardof the car, as will be understood by reference to the dotted lines inFig. l, and held in said position by a suitable catch, as indicated ata, said brackets E being shaped so as not to interfere with the woodworkor platform of the car when raised in said position, as will beunderstood. The fender being thus thrown upward readily permits the carto be coupled with another.

In order that the front of the fender or guard when in use may beautomatically kept in a uniform relation with the trackrails, I havearranged at each side of the car a lever G, one end of which is pivotedat b to the j ournal-boX or other stationaryxture of the truck and nearthe opposite end loosely pivoted at c, Fig. l, to the bottom of the car.

To the front ends of the said levers G is eccentrically pivoted across-bar I-I, which engages with projections e upon the brackets E, asshown in Fig. 1, so that the front end of the fender will thereby beheld in substantially the same relative position to the trackrails,notwithstanding the rocking motion of the car endwise, as is clearlyillustrated in Fig. l. Said cross-bar I-I carries an arm h, by which itcan readily be adjusted and locked into any desired position. Saidcross-bar being eccentrically pivoted to the rods or levers G acts thusas a cam and allows the fender to be adjusted and held at any desireddistance above the track-rails, as will be obvious. A cross-bar g,firmly connected with the lever G, assists in bracing the latter.

The fender may be covered with a suitable cushion, canvas or netting toprevent a per son from being seriously injured when falling thereupon,as will be understood.

The operation of the mechanism is as fol lows: When the front of the car in its rocking motion endwise is thrown downward, it will be seen thatthe said mechanism will be thrown in the position indicated in dottedlines in Fig. 1, thereby preventing the front of the fender fromstriking the track-rails.

IOO

From this the effect of the opposite motion of the same end ofthe carWill be readily comprehended Without further description.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim, and wish to secure byLetters Patent of the United States, is*

1. The combination with the front end of the car, of hangers pivotallysecured to the under side thereof, a portion of each of which projectsto the rear of the pivotal point, a fender secured to the front portion.of the hangers, levers pivotally connected at their rear ends with theaxle-box or other stationary fixture of the truck-frame and near theirfront "ends loosely pivoted to the car body; a cross bar connected withthe front ends of said levers and loosely engaging with the rearportionsof the hangers, whereby the front end of the fender is normallyheld in the same position relative to thc track by said levers, but freeto be raised up in front of and secured to the dashboard, substantiallyas set forth.

2. The combination with the car, of curved or substantially C-shapedbrackets pivotally secured to the under side of the platform, a fendersecured to the front end of said brackets and adapted to be swung' upand secured to the dashboard of the ear, and a system of lleverspivotally connected with the car truck and loosely 4With said brackets,whereby the 3o front end of the fender is held in the same relativeposition to the track when the fender is in use, substantially asdescribed, and for the purposes set forth. Y

3. The combination with the guard or fen- 3 5 der, of levers pivotallyconnecting' at one end with the journal boxes or other permanent xture,of the truck, and near the other end with the platform of the car, across bar eccentrieally pivoted to the front ends of said 4o levers andloosely engaging with a hinged' fender, supporting levers or bracketsWhereby the rocking,l motion of the body of the car endwise is preventedfrom being transmitted to the front of the guard or fender, as de- 45scribed, and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand thislith day of May, 1895.

CHARLES M. WILCOX.

Iitnessesz OLIVER DEAKE, BEATRICE CHARLES.

